Wilcox's Paul M Rosa (2) pushes into the end zone past Kaiser's Joey Trejo (95) for a touchdown in the fourth quarter of the CIF Division 3-A state championship game in Santa Clara, Calif., on Saturday, Dec. 15, 2018. (Anda Chu/Bay Area News Group)

Wilcox quarterback Alex Adame (9) scores a touchdown against Kaiser in the second quarter of the CIF Division 3-A state championship game in Santa Clara, Calif., on Saturday, Dec. 15, 2018. (Anda Chu/Bay Area News Group)

Wilcox quarterback Alex Adame (9) is congratulated by teammate Jacob Dominguez (10) after Adame scored a touchdown against Kaiser in the second quarter of the CIF Division 3-A state championship game in Santa Clara, Calif., on Saturday, Dec. 15, 2018. (Anda Chu/Bay Area News Group)

Wilcox's Gabe Herrera (33) avoids Kaiser's Dustin Chaidez (17) and heads for the end zone and touchdown in the second quarter of the CIF Division 3-A state championship game in Santa Clara, Calif., on Saturday, Dec. 15, 2018. (Anda Chu/Bay Area News Group)

Wilcox's Gabe Herrera (33) scores a touchdown ahead of Kaiser's Joseph Glenn (4) in the second quarter of the CIF Division 3-A state championship game in Santa Clara, Calif., on Saturday, Dec. 15, 2018. (Anda Chu/Bay Area News Group)

Kaiser's Christian Hunter (28) is tackled by Wilcox's Alejandro J Brizuela (14) in the second quarter of the CIF Division 3-A state championship game in Santa Clara, Calif., on Saturday, Dec. 15, 2018. (Anda Chu/Bay Area News Group)

Wilcox's Paul M. Rosa (2) runs the ball for a gain against Kaiser's Gabriel Ortiz (44) in the first quarter of the CIF Division 3-A state championship game in Santa Clara, Calif., on Saturday, Dec. 15, 2018. (Anda Chu/Bay Area News Group)

Wilcox's Gabe Herrera (33) runs the ball for a gain against Kaiser's Jose Carmona (47) in the first quarter of the CIF Division 3-A state championship game in Santa Clara, Calif., on Saturday, Dec. 15, 2018. (Anda Chu/Bay Area News Group)

Kaiser quarterback Trey Tribble (5) is tackled and stripped of the ball by Wilcox's Roan Poulivaati (22) in the first quarter of the CIF Division 3-A state championship game in Santa Clara, Calif., on Saturday, Dec. 15, 2018. Wilcox recovered the fumble. (Anda Chu/Bay Area News Group)

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SANTA CLARA — Wilcox faced a squad that had 32 more players on its roster and a 3,000-yard rusher in the CIF Division 3-A state championship game Saturday night.

But the Chargers haven’t backed down from an opponent this season, and they weren’t going to start now.

Gabe Herrera rushed for a career-high 240 yards and the Chargers limited Kaiser-Fontana star Christian Hunter — who had 3,839 yards on the ground this season — to one of his lowest rushing totals of the year in a 41-27 victory.

“You always kind of think about it, dream about it, but the reality of it is even better,” Wilcox coach Paul Rosa said about the state championship win.

“We felt like they couldn’t stop us going into this game, and we proved it,” said Herrera, who rushed for four touchdowns in a superlative performance. “I felt like since the jump, they couldn’t stop our offense, and all our defense needed to do was stop them once. That’s all we needed, and that’s exactly what happened on their first drive and we scored. I thought it was game over from there. I think we got into their head mentally.

“This is a win for everybody, from down to the scout team, down to the kickoffs team, down to the field goals, this is everybody’s win.”

Hunter had to work for 204 yards on 27 carries, with only seven carries gaining more than seven yards. The yardage total is tied for the fifth-lowest in his 16 games this season. As the game wore on, he was running more east-west than north-south.

Rosa said the team’s plan on defensing Hunter was to “try to make him go sideways a little bit more than normal.

“He’s a man. He’s a great player, you can tell. He’s explosive.”

Wilcox (14-1) gained all of its 434 yards on the ground. It did not attempt a pass in the game.

“I thought that was the greatest feeling,” Rosa said. “Our offense is prolific every year, and it’s a running game, and they say you can’t win with that – well, we didn’t have to throw the ball.

“We found something on the right side of the line and stuck with it.”

Wilcox got all of its yardage from three players. Paul M. Rosa had 104 yards and a touchdown, and quarterback Alex Adame rushed for 90 yards and a score.

“We were just focusing on having tough runs, with the linemen and the backs. We grinded out yards, and that’s what won us this game. We knew that we were the tougher team,” Paul M. Rosa said.

The intensity was high even during pre-game stretching. A Kaiser fan yelled at the Wilcox squad that it looked like a jv team, and a Kaiser assistant coach was swearing loudly on the field and said that Wilcox did not win its championship.

“Actually it was great, because we’re a tough group and whenever you try to get on us early, it makes us play a little bit better. So I thought it was a great thing,” said the elder Rosa about what that assistant coach said.

The Chargers fell to Menlo-Atherton in the Central Coast Section Open Division I championship game before winning its final two games of the year.

On the first possession of the game, Hunter opened with runs of 37 and 18 yards, but quarterback Trey Tribble then fumbled and Rosa recovered the ball and ran it back more than 30 yards to the Kaiser 44. Twelve plays later, Herrera scored the first of his touchdowns on a two-yard run.

On the first play of the second quarter, Herrera ended a 70-yard drive by bolting through a hole for a 24-yard touchdown. Kaiser (14-2) answered back with a 12-play, 72-yard drive that ended with a nine-yard touchdown run by Hunter, his only touchdown of the game.

Adame ended Wilcox’s next drive with a great read-option, taking the ball 17 yards into the end zone. Kaiser countered with a three-play drive, capped by a one-yard run by Tribble. But the point-after-touchdown kick was blocked by Wilcox’s Ronnie Rodriguez, and the Chargers had a 20-13 lead entering halftime.

Wilcox took the second-half kickoff and drove methodically 87 yards on 13 plays, eating up more than four minutes off the clock. Herrera ended the drive with a three-yard touchdown run.

After Kaiser failed to convert a fourth-down play on the Wilcox 40-yard line, Herrera exploded up the middle for a 60-yard touchdown and a 20-point Wilcox lead with 4 minutes, 31 seconds left in the third quarter.

Kaiser answered with a 50-yard touchdown pass from Tribble to Lucas Mandujano. Tribble completed eight of his 11 passes for 126 yards, two touchdowns and an interception in the game.

Tribble’s second touchdown throw, for 17 yards to Gabriel Ortiz, brought the Cats within one touchdown of Wilcox with 10:08 to go in the fourth quarter. But Wilcox put together an 80-yard drive that lasted more than five minutes, ending with a Rosa three-yard run.

When Nick Malvini dove to intercept a long Tribble pass with 1:47 remaining, and Rosa rushed for a first down three plays later, the Wilcox celebration started.